The chance to explore a slice of history with a tour of Furness Abbey captured the imagination of Barrovians in 1994 – when hundreds of people took advantage of a cut-price chance for a peek.
The event was held to mark the tenth anniversary of English Heritage on Easter weekend and attracted about 300 people, who paid a £2.50 entry fee which included afternoon tea at the Abbey House Hotel and a guided walk round the ancient ruins and museum.
The guided tour offered lots of information and historical facts about the abbey and the figures irrelevant to it.
Secretary of the Barrow History and Civic Society, Alice Leach, led a special tour of 75, accompanied by then-Barrow mayor Hazel Edwards.
Mrs Edwards said: “All of the profits that were made that day went to the mayor’s charity and will be distributed to local charities.
“It was a very interesting occasion and fortunately the weather was good as well.”
In 1997, computer generated drawings and old engravings became the new attractions that were expected to attract dozens of new young people to the tourist hotspot.
A new education room was created inside the abbey and was meant to encourage more schools to visit the area.
The room had been set up by English Heritage, which managed the abbey, after consultation with a working group of local teachers on how schools could use the abbey for teaching.
It was equipped with a range of materials to be used by children and teachers exploring the site.
The materials included games, computer generated drawings and old engravings, and were suitable for a range of subjects in the national curriculum.
The education room also had a pack of notes for teachers to help them take parties of children around the abbey and the museum.
The project cost English Heritage about £10,000.
The organisation hoped the investment would give local schools the motivation to take advantage of one of the area’s most important historical sites.
Educational visits to the abbey were free if booked at least two weeks in advance and schools were encouraged to take up the offer.
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